


A Little More Bonding (The Spare Parts and Broken Hearts Remix)

by handyhunter



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-16
Updated: 2010-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-09 12:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/87291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/handyhunter/pseuds/handyhunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jubilee and Logan go shopping. Background Scott/Logan. Post-X2. X3 never happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little More Bonding (The Spare Parts and Broken Hearts Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wizefics (bewize)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewize/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Little Male Bonding](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/802) by wizefics. 



"Oops," said Jubilee. Her third attempt to create fireworks that went where she wanted them to go, instead of any which way they pleased, didn't quite go as planned. The back door was sort of...on fire. Well, not really on fire, but there were smokey black streaks against the nice white paint. The entire school had been repainted after it had been repaired after the latest attack. She stepped back. From a few feet away, it didn't look _so_ bad. Maybe if no one looked directly at it? It wasn't like anyone used the back door anyway.

The back door flew open and an irate Scott Summers stepped outside. He was scowling, as usual, and had his hands on his hips. He very deliberately turned his head from Jubilee to the smoking door and back again. The sunlight glinted dangerously off his visor, making Jubilee blink. He was staring right at her, she could tell, even without being able to see his eyes.

Jubilee clasped her hands behind her back. "Um, good morning, Mr. Summers."

"Do you have any idea how early it is? On a Saturday?" He took a deep breath, on his way to delivering a long lecture; Jubilee kinda missed them, though not when she was actually on the receiving end of one. Most of the time Scott passed by her and the other kids without saying anything to anyone. He also stopped getting haircuts and shaving and wearing properly buttoned up shirts. ". . .Are you paying _any_ attention?"

Jubilee nodded enthusiastically. "No fireworks in the morning. Got it."

Scott sighed and threw up his hands. "Why did Ororo and the Professor pick the same weekend to go away?"

Jubilee shrugged and would've explained, but it seemed like Mr. Summers was talking to himself. He did that a lot since Jean died. Ororo had told Jubilee she was visiting Hank, who was now a doctor and on TV a lot, for a few days, and the Professor had some important meeting with important people in Washington, DC. It sounded boring. Scott would have known all this if he bothered to go to the school assembly last Tuesday, when Ororo and the Professor made the general announcement. Scott used to plan the assemblies, and now that he didn't, they were _a lot_ shorter and lacked slide presentations. When Jubilee first arrived at the school, she had no idea there were six different escape routes - each illustrated on its individual slide and colour coded according to the type of emergency - built into the mansion, not that any of them worked when Stryker and his men broke in. Well, some kids got away, but she didn't and she'd paid attention, mostly, to the lectures. Anyway, Scott was still talking...

"Where's Logan?" He looked around, as if saying Wolverine's name would conjure him out of thin air. "Never mind. Don't move." He marched into the house and back outside before Jubilee could make her escape. He was carrying a mop and a bucket, both of which he handed to Jubilee.

Jubilee looked at the mop and bucket and then at Scott walking away. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she yelled as the door swung shut behind him.

"Hey, kid. You seen Summers?"

Startled, Jubilee dropped the bucket and whirled around, mop extended to fend off the sneaky person behind her. Wolverine's claws sliced through the handle neatly, and Jubilee was left holding on to a very short stick. "Whoa."

Wolverine's claws went snikting back into his arms. "Wasn't expectin' anyone to be guarding the back door," he said, sounding almost sheepish.

"It's all right," Jubilee said generously. Logan hadn't stomped around and yelled at her like Scott. She tossed what remained of the mop into the bucket. "At least now I won't have to mop the door."

One of Logan's eyebrows went up. "'Mop the door'?"

Jubilee tilted her head towards the mansion. The black streaks added a unique quality to this part of the mansion, she decided. It was more decorative than destructive, really. The door still worked, after all. To prove her point, Kitty walked right through it, and then brushed some soot off her clothing.

"I smell like smoke now," she complained. "What happened?"

"Slight training miscalculation," muttered Jubilee. "I couldn't get in the Danger Room since Ororo changed the passwords again. It wasn't like anything blew up the last time."

Kitty grinned. "Yeah. Not like the time you exploded the TV or X-Box or microwave. . ."

"At least I didn't phase through Mr. Summers' computer, with all our final grades, lost forever. . ."

"That was an accident! Honest." Kitty mock-punched Jubilee in the arm. "Rogue wants to go to the mall. Do you--?"

"YES! Let's go!"

Logan was looking back and forth at the two of them. "I think that's my cue to leave. Try not to set the mall on fire, eh?" He headed into the mansion, towards the direction of the kitchen, and Jubilee did her best to drag Kitty past breakfast and to the garage.

Kitty dug her heels into the carpet. "Slow down! We're not leaving for another half hour. Rogue's only half awake and I don't think Bobby's dressed yet. I don't even know why Bobby wants to tag along - I thought he hated the mall--"

"How can anyone hate the mall? Boys are stupid," said Jubilee, as Bobby walked out of the kitchen, still in his pajamas. "Bobby! Get dressed! We gotta leave soon!"

In response, Bobby scowled at her over his large cup of coffee. Before he could say anything, the three of them heard Mr. Summers laugh at something Logan said. They looked at each other and back into the kitchen where their two teachers were having breakfast.

"Wolvie likes cheering people up," said Jubilee. Bobby looked at her in disbelief. "What?" She looked at Kitty and they nodded.

Kitty said, "Rogue is his favourite, obviously, but he's not completely terrifying once you get to know him. Speaking of Rogue, I better go see what's keeping her." She walked through a wall and emerged on the staircase, bounding up the steps two at a time.

"Logan made me a sandwich once. . .after I blew up the microwave," Jubilee told Bobby. She studied her nails and wondered if nail polish was flammable; she wouldn't want to singe her fingertips.

"I thought he banned you from the kitchen." Bobby seemed determined to remain stubbornly unconvinced of Wolvie's caring side, underneath all the hair and claws.

"Nah. I'm just not allowed to practice making firecrackers in the kitchen. Regular crackers on peanut butter are okay." Jubilee grinned, feeling rather silly. It couldn't be helped; going to the mall made her giddy. Within a mall was everything you could ever want, and then some.

Bobby shook his head. "Why would you-- You know, what? Never mind. I'm going to go change." He took the long way around to get to the second floor because he couldn't walk through walls.

*

Jubilee went outside to wait for the others - how long could it take to brush your teeth and get dressed? You didn't even have to wear matching socks! - and found Wolverine leaning on the driver's side door of the van.

"I thought you weren't going," said Jubilee.

Logan pulled the unlit cigar out of his mouth. "Changed my mind."

She leaned against the car, mimicking Wolverine's pose. "Is that because Rogue's going?"

"I think Marie's capable of shopping without my supervision."

Jubilee nodded. "I am too." She might not be an X-Man yet, but she definitely knew how to shop.

"I ain't shopping for you either."

"Did you run out of clean clothes?"

Logan shot her a look. "No."

"I'm not allowed to use the laundry machines unsupervised either. I didn't blow it up, though. There were just a lot of bubbles. Oh, look, everyone's here! I call shotgun!"

Bobby's face fell when he saw Logan. Behind him, Rogue and Kitty were giggling about something.

"Keys, bub." Logan caught them one handed from Bobby, and they all piled into the van. Logan drove extremely fast - Jubilee was certain if Ororo or Scott were with them, they would've told him to slow down, especially around the corners - but he made sure they were all wearing their seat belts first.

Once at the mall, they made plans to split up and meet back at the front entrance in an hour.

"An hour?!" said Jubilee and Bobby in unison.

Jubilee made a face. "That's not enough time!"

"What she said," said Bobby, "but the opposite."

"And why do I have to stay with Wolvie, when everyone else gets to go wherever they want?"

"One, don't call me that. Two, you're only thirteen." Wolverine crossed his arms and glared a little.

Please, like that was scary. Jubilee glared back. "I'm almost fifteen!"

"Really?" Wolverine's glare lost some of its edge at his surprise.

"She's almost fourteen," Kitty answered Logan.

"Fifteen in Chinese years!"

Logan rubbed his head. "That doesn't count. You're stuck with me, kid. I'd only track you down anyway."

"Fine." Jubilee scowled. If Logan could track her down, it wasn't like getting lost was a _problem_, but arguing would only take up more shopping time. Kitty patted her hand, and then took off after Rogue and Bobby, who'd entered a clothing store.

*

"Are you buying a new basketball?" Jubilee inquired. The old one was squished under the Blackbird.

"No."

"Are you buying more socks? Because I heard Ms. Munroe saying something about the smell. . ."

"No."

"Are you buying a balance ball?" They were fun to play with, but popped easily -- sad casualties of training sessions in the Danger Room.

"No."

"Are you buying hockey sticks?"

"No." Logan paused. "Well, I suppose I could."

"Are you--"

"Are you going to stop asking questions any time soon?"

Jubilee considered this for half a second. "Probably not. It's not in my nature. Are you going to tell me what you're buying?"

Logan sighed. "Something for Summers."

"Like, something he told you to buy or something you want to buy for him?" Jubilee looked at Wolvie out of the corner of her eye. He was glancing over the bikes and biking accessories on display. Jubilee liked the pink one with the tassels.

"What difference does it make?"

Jubilee shrugged. "Scott used to get Jean to go shopping with us. I mean, with him too. Like an outing for the school."

"Scott likes shopping?" Logan sounded greatly amused by this prospect.

"More than Jean did. More than Bobby. Less than me." Jubilee caught sight of a pair of roller blades sitting prettily on a shelf just at her eye-level. "Ooh."

Logan followed her gaze and shook his head. "Don't you already have a pair?"

"I've been borrowing Kitty's old pair." It never hurt to look. It never hurt to try them on too. While Logan was browsing in the back of the store, she exchanged her flip flops for a pair of the roller blades in her size and twirled around the store, pretending to dodge imaginary bad guys, weaving around the aisles and displays and customers.

"Hey, you about ready to go?" Logan stepped in Jubilee's path and she screeched to a halt, almost crashing into him.

"Wow. Good brakes." Jubilee steadied herself on Logan's arm and caught a good look at the stuff he was carrying. "Why do you need protective gear, Wolvie? Did your healing factor stop working?"

"My healing factor works fine." Logan pointed at Jubilee's feet and said to the sales attendant. "We'll take those too."

"Wolvie! You are officially my favourite old mutant." Jubilee beamed.

To the sales attendant's credit, she didn't freak out at Jubilee's rather loud and excited declaration, though she gave them both slightly nervous glances.

"Ain't that old," Logan muttered. He signed something illegible at the bottom of the receipt and steered Jubilee out of the store.

"You know, it's not really a present if you're using Mr. Summers' credit card to buy him stuff. Why does he need shin pads and stuff?"

"You ask too many questions, kid."

*

Jubilee sat on a wooden bench, admiring her new roller blades. She still had a few minutes before the allotted hour was up, but what was going to top new roller blades?

"They should be part of the X-uniform." She shared this thought out loud.

Logan opened one eye and grunted. It could've been a yes or a no.

"I roller blade a lot faster than I run. I bet if I had these, no bad guys would be able to catch me."

Jubilee thought Logan had actually fallen asleep, then, still with his eyes closed, he said, "Roller blades won't help you against an enemy like Magneto and you can't out-skate tranq darts."

"I know." She tucked her legs underneath her and spun one of the wheels. They were still unscuffed and shiny.

"Welcome to the real world, bub."

"I don't like it very much." Jubilee scowled. "And I miss Jean. And the old Scott. And when Ororo wasn't leaving every weekend."

Logan dropped a heavy hand on her shoulder and she looked up in surprise. "Is that why you've been up at dawn terrorizing the birds outside?"

Jubilee shrugged. If she'd been stronger, braver and faster, she might've been able to escape like some of the other kids; if her fireworks _worked_, she might have defeated some of Stryker's men. In any case, working on controlling and strengthening her powers couldn't hurt, right?

Logan evidently had the same train of thought because he nodded and said, "It wouldn't be a bad idea to have training sessions for you younger kids."

"It's not fair," Jubilee mumbled, but Logan with his super-hearing heard her anyway.

"Yeah, well, life's funny like that. Being a mutant means you have these powers that are scary to people who don't have them and dangerous if you can't control them. I'm sure this was covered in the school brochure."

Jubilee waited a moment to make sure he was done talking. "I just meant it wasn't fair that I have to be in the beginner group when I've been at the school for a lot longer than Rogue and she's on the team all ready!"

Logan cracked his knuckles. "She can control her powers."

"No, she can't!"

"Her powers are uncontrollable in a predictable way, like Summers and his visor," Logan amended. "Yours are not. Yet."

"Are you saying I'm more dangerous than her?" Jubilee wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.

"Differently dangerous?" he suggested. "Rogue's power is dangerous, but it's a close-contact weapon. You could theoretically throw fireballs from a distance, when your aim improves."

"Fireworks," corrected Jubilee. "They're prettier."

"Of course they are." Logan shut his eyes again, ending his part of the conversation.

Jubilee thought about what he said, she really did, but she could only keep quiet for so long. "You know what would be cool, Wolvie? Fighting giant, killer robots!"

Logan sighed and stretched, bones cracking so loudly, it earned him a few startled glances from nearby shoppers. "You watch too many bad movies."

*

When they met up with the others, Jubilee was the only one not carrying a bag. Or in Bobby's case, many, many bags.

"Don't look at me," said Rogue. "Those are all his. I only wanted another pair of gloves."

"Are you feeling all right, Jubes? You didn't buy anything!" Kitty looked shocked.

"I got new roller blades!" She stuck out a foot for them to admire. "But, now that you mention it. . . Can we stop by the art store, Wolvie?"

"You are the resident teacher of the arts," said Bobby.

"All right, all right," said Logan, over the snickering. "Lead the way."

*

Back at the mansion, Jubilee found Ororo waiting by the back door.

"Jubilation Lee," Ororo began.

"How did you know it was me?" Jubilee cried. "It could have been anyone! I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow!"

"Hank had an emergency meeting he couldn't get out of, so I decided to return early. Also, I was only going to ask if you'd eaten lunch yet," said Ororo mildly, "but seeing as you have admitted to. . .?"

Jubilee sighed and pointed at the door. Then she held up her new paint brushes.

"I see. Would you like some help?"

Together, they cleaned and repainted the door. It was a bright, sparkling pink, especially sparkly when Ororo directed a bit of sunlight at the door to help it dry. It had taken them longer than it probably should have to paint one door because neither of them knew what they were doing. Peter Rasputin had to explain what a primer was, where in the garage it could be found, and that, possibly, they might want a drop sheet on the porch in case of any accidents.

"It's a happy colour," said Jubilee, greatly pleased with her choice. "We should paint all the doors this colour!"

"Er. Why don't we have a snack instead, as we seem to have missed lunch?" Ororo suggested, popping the lid back on the paint can. She set it to one side where it would be less likely to get knocked over; they could return it to the garage later.

"Sure! We can do that first." Jubilee found she was hungry, now that Ororo mentioned food. It was mid-afternoon, a long time from her hasty breakfast of cold cereal.

*

Ororo passed Jubilee the peanut butter and a bread knife. Jubilee made her sandwich, then cut off the crusts. She covered those in extra peanut butter, to mask the crust-y taste.

"Did Logan buy you a present to make you feel better?" Jubilee asked, then bit into her sandwich.

Ororo coughed. "I wasn't aware Logan was buying anyone presents."

Jubilee had to finish chewing before she could speak. The peanut butter was sticking to the roof of her mouth. "Well, he bought me roller blades and Mr. Summers some protective gear."

"I'm sure Logan has his reasons." Ororo mixed honey into her tea and offered to pour Jubilee a cup. Jubilee shook her head and got out the milk instead. She washed down her sandwich with a big gulp of milk and wiped off her milk moustache with the back of her had.

"Hey, Ororo? Do you think I'd make a good X-Man?"

Ororo set down her tea cup and looked at Jubilee thoughtfully. "You're a little young to be deciding if you want to join the X-Men. But-" she held up a hand to ward off Jubilee's protests "-if I think you'd make a fine X-Man, if that's what you wish to do. But you should know the professor didn't open this school just to recruit X-Men. I left the team when I went to college."

"You did?"

"Yes. Me, Jean and Hank -- he wasn't blue and furry, then."

"Why'd you come back?"

Ororo smiled softly. "Duty, or Scott, called, I suppose. What's that phrase? 'Once an X-Man, always an X-Man'."

Jubilee didn't recall hearing that before, but it had a nice ring to it. "Did Scott say that?"

"Not in so many words, but when he needed our help, we - Jean and I - returned. Hank was still in the middle of his studies. Jean left again for a few years, to continue her doctorate, and I stayed on to teach." Ororo poured herself more tea. "Why this sudden interest in joining the team?"

Talking with Logan helped clarify some things that had been bothering her, but he wasn't Ororo, whom Jubilee had known for a lot longer. It was a little easier to admit to Ororo that she feared being kidnapped again. "I don't like feeling useless or defenseless."

"The X-Men will protect you. That's part of our job description." Ororo's gaze was steady and warm, and Jubilee looked away first. She pushed the crumbs on the counter into a tiny hill.

_But you didn't the last time._ Jubilee blocked that thought reflexively, even though there weren't any telpaths in the kitchen with them, unless rumours of Jean's ghost haunting the school were true. "I want to be able to protect myself."

"I wish it weren't necessary. You kids grow up too fast." Ororo patted Jubilee's hand and nodded, more to herself than to Jubilee. "I'll talk to Logan about scheduling more training classes."

*

The next morning, Jubilee bolted out of bed the minute she woke up, heedless of Kitty's complaining about how Sundays were for sleeping in. She sunk her head down under her pillow - or into her pillow - Jubilee wasn't sure, but she had no time to check as she was busy sprinting out the door. She skidded into the kitchen, where Ororo was eating pancakes, with several sheets of paper spread out in front of her.

"Are we starting today?"

"Good morning to you too, Jubilee." Ororo barely glanced up from the notes she was making.

"Tell me you didn't set anything else on fire." Scott walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee maker.

"It wasn't me!" said Jubilee. "Why does everyone blame me first?"

"What's on fire?" asked Ororo, still concentrating on her work. Possibly she'd been a teacher at this school too long when the occasional fiery mishap didn't faze her.

"Nothing. That I know of," said Scott. He emptied yesterday's old coffee into the sink, wrinkling his nose. "What are you working on?"

"I'm revising Logan's schedule." Ororo glanced at Jubilee. "Our intrepid young student here suggested we should offer self-defence classes for the younger kids."

Intrepid. Jubilee liked the sound of that.

"Oh. Uh, good idea." Scott measured out the ground coffee with a precision that was almost casual, for him. He stuck the rinsed out pot in the coffee maker and turned it on.

Ororo tapped the marked up schedule with her pen. "Mm. Do you know where I might find Logan? I want to run this by him before I finalize it."

"He's probably still curled up on the floor in the Danger Room." Scott's bland expression was straying into a smirk. "I don't think he's a morning fighter."

At that, Ororo looked up. "Must you two fight over Jean even now?"

Jubilee finally put her finger on what was different about Scott today. He was wearing his visor instead of his glasses. Her teachers were talking over her head like they'd forgotten she was there. This was how she picked up all the best gossip.

"This isn't about Jean." Scott crossed his arms and any hint of amusement fled from his face to match Ororo's disapproving frown.

"No?"

"No." Scott poured his coffee into a travel mug and walked out of the kitchen without another word. Moments later, Jubilee heard the roar of an engine. Probably his motorcycle or one of the fancier cars the kids weren't allowed to learn how to drive on.

Ororo blinked and seemed to recall Jubilee's presence. "A broken heart is a terrible thing to live with."

Jubilee nodded gravely. "People grieve in different ways." It was something Jean had told her when they found her after her parents died. Jubilee ran away from home and hid in a mall. Scott acted like he was running away too, but he'd be back, probably by dinner; she didn't think he'd stay away for long.

"Yes, I suppose we do." Ororo set her dishes in the sink and gathered up her papers. She gave Jubilee a quick hug.

"I bet that's why Logan's being nice and buying stuff for people."

Ororo cracked a smile. "Retail therapy for Wolverine? Hah. I better go rescue him from the Danger Room. I'll put the sign up sheet in front of my office later, okay?"

Jubilee nodded and yawned. Since it didn't look like they were going to get off to an early start to her training, she thought about going back to sleep, or maybe convincing Kitty she'd slept well past noon. Kitty still owed her a foosball re-match because phasing through the board and "losing" the ball was totally not allowed. On the other hand. . . Jubilee's new roller blades beckoned, so maybe she'd challenge Kitty to a race instead. Also, she was going to have to ask Rogue if she knew what was up with Scott and Logan, and why they were fighting again. Maybe, after their race, she and Kitty could spy on them. The grown-ups were never as sneaky as they thought they were being. Satisfied with her own plans for today, Jubilee set about toasting herself some frozen blueberry waffles. No one had said she couldn't use the toaster, after all.


End file.
